The tall man that River had pointed out as Ian looked over from the grill and grinned. “I see you ladies have recruited another member for your plastic cup wine club,” he said. Then he wiped his hands off on his jeans before coming over and reaching out to shake River’s hand. “I’m Ian. Very nice to meet you.”
“River. Nice to meet you, too,” River said.
“That’s Zach over there by the grill,” Ian said, pointing at the last member of the crew. Zach barely glanced up or acknowledged River, and River thought she a dark, frustrated look pass over Ian’s face. The look lasted less than a second, though, so River couldn’t be sure. Zach focused on the grill intently, as though the burgers would burn if he didn’t watch them every single second.
“So how did a buffoon like Luke manage to land a beautiful girl like you?” Ian asked with a twinkle in his eye.
Luke let out a long, exasperated sigh. “What the hell? Is it gang up on Luke night? I’ll have you know that I make a very good boyfriend.”
“I believe it,” Charlotte said. “I heard about the bookshelf you made for River. That’s so awesome.”
“It is awesome,” River said. “And he brought it up to my third floor apartment without any help, which is hard to believe. This guy has superhuman strength or something.” River reached out to give Luke’s biceps a squeeze, but she saw Zach shoot her another dark look. Ian coughed uncomfortably, and even Luke seemed suddenly interested in his feet. Had she said something wrong?
“Well,” Charlotte said, jumping in and saving everyone from the awkward pause. “He should be strong. We smokejumpers have to carry almost a hundred pounds of gear with us on every jump.”
“Wait, ‘we’ smokejumpers?” River asked. “You’re a smokejumper, too?”
Charlotte nodded proudly. “One of the only female smokejumpers in the country. I know how to keep these boys in line. If they give you trouble, you come to me.”
This assertion was met with howls of laughter from the men, including Hunter and Trevor, who had come out to join the group.
“Look who’s getting too big for her britches,” Trevor said. “I’d like to see you take on any of us for real.”
The teasing and ribbing continued as Zach started handing out the food. River smiled over at Luke, who reached out and squeezed her hand. Any last bits of nervousness floated away, and River sighed happily as she watched her new friends laughing and eating. She could definitely see herself fitting into this lively crew.
Chapter Nine
Over the next week, River spent all of her free time with Luke. It had been a long time since she’d enjoyed the all-consuming rush of a new relationship, and she was loving the feeling of being head over heels for someone again. As she got to know Luke better and better, she realized that her snap assertion that they were incompatible had been completely wrong. Although Luke wasn’t a book lover like River, he shared a lot of other common interests with her. They enjoyed cooking together, and they had similar tastes in movies. And Luke was just as excited as River was for long walks on the nature trails near Red Valley. The pair spent hours walking and talking, discussing everything from the meaning of life to which brand of ice-cream was really best. No subject was too deep or too silly.
And yet, River couldn’t shake the strange feeling that Luke was holding something back from her. Every now and then, he would clam up and look uncomfortable. River was at a loss as to what was bothering him. To her, everything seemed to be going so perfectly. The deep connection she felt to him only grew stronger and more intoxicating.
Exactly a week after she had first met Luke’s crew, she came back for another cookout. Like the week before, the evening was filled with plenty of good-natured teasing, and plenty of good food. After she couldn’t eat another bite, River lay in the grass near the picnic table, looking up at the stars and listening to the sound of laughter echoing through the still night. Riley and Charlotte came over and lay next to her, and the three of them started chatting about holiday plans. It felt weird to discuss Christmas when the weather was still so warm, but December was only a few weeks away.
In the middle of Riley’s discussion of her plans for The Sweet Crust’s holiday menu, a loud, squawking beep started echoing across the lawn. Riley groaned, and Charlotte sat straight up in an instant. Everyone stopped talking and looked at Ian, who pulled a radio out of the back pocket of his jeans.
“Boise, this is Burning Claws Base,” Ian said into the radio. River slowly came up to a sitting position, and was surprised at the serious expressions on all of the crew’s faces. She had never seen them be so quiet when they were all hanging out together.
“Burning Claws, we’ve got a small fire down south of L.A. we need your help with. It’s still really dry down there, and we had another lighting storm.”
“Roger that,” Ian said. “When’s pickup?”
“5 a.m. tomorrow morning. We’re sending a Twin Otter aircraft,” the voice on the radio replied. A collective groan came from the crew when they heard the time. River looked over at Luke, but his expression was neutral and hard to read.
“We’ll be ready,” Ian said, and then looked up at the crew. “You heard them. Start getting your gear together.”
Riley and Charlotte got up, and started helping to clean up the remaining food from the picnic table. Everyone on the crew sprang into action, clearing food and throwing out the beers they had been in the process of drinking. River sat on the grass, unsure of what to do. She would have been happy to help clear the food, but there didn’t seem to be any more room in the crowd.
Luke came over and sat on the grass next to her.
“So, you probably gathered that we’ve just been called in for a job. Sounds pretty straightforward, but we’ll have to leave early tomorrow morning. You’re more than welcome to stay here if you want, but I understand if you’d rather go back to your place and not be woken up at 4 a.m.”
River nodded. Luke usually came to spend the night at her apartment, but that obviously didn’t make sense if he had to be here ready to get on a plane at 5 a.m. Part of her wanted to stay, but she felt a little bit awkward and in the way.
“I think I’ll head home and let you guys get ready and sleep,” she said.
Luke looked slightly disappointed, but nodded. “Okay,” he said, then stood up and held his hand out to her. “I’ll walk you to your car.”
River took his hand and they walked around the hangar to where her Jeep was parked. Luke leaned in to give her a long, deep kiss.
“I’m going to miss you, beautiful,” he said.
“I’ll miss you, too,” River said. “I have to admit, I’m a little nervous about you jumping out of a plane into a fire.”
Luke chuckled. “Don’t worry. We don’t actually jump into the fire. We jump near it. And this is a small fire. It should be a straightforward job, there and back in a day or two.”
River sighed. “Okay. I know it seems simple to you, but this is the first time you’re leaving me to go smokejumping. At least, the first time that I know that’s why you’re leaving me,” she said with a wry grin.
Luke smiled. “Yeah, see. When I left you at the bar I just didn’t explain everything because I didn’t want to worry you.”
River gave Luke a small punch in the arm. “Don’t push your luck, Mister.”
Luke laughed and wrapped his arms around River. “Don’t worry about me. I’ve done this a bunch of times, and I have the best parachuting equipment. Top of the line. Everything is going to be fine.”
River sighed and leaned her head against Luke’s chest. She had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach, but she couldn’t tell if her gut was trying to tell her something, or if she was just overreacting to the stress of her first time experiencing Luke leaving for a fire. Either way, she decided that now wasn’t the time to dance around the way she felt about him. No matter how much he insisted that everything would be fine, it was just a fact that he was about to go into a dangerous situation. R
iver would never forgive herself if something happened to him and she didn’t get the chance to say the words that had been dancing on the tip of her tongue all week. So she took a deep breath and looked up into the face of her brave, handsome boyfriend.
“I love you, Luke,” she said.
He looked momentarily surprised, and then a huge grin spread across his face. He leaned down to plant another kiss on her lips before saying the words back to her.
“I love you, too, River. I love you, too.”
Chapter Ten
Luke stared out the window of the Twin Otter for what he hoped would be the last time this fire season. Although the last few weeks had been slow, he was tired from months of constant missions. He wanted a good, long stretch of time to recover from the physical and mental exhaustion of wildfire fighting. He wanted a few months to play around with his rekindled love of woodworking, and his newly kindled love of River.
He smiled as he thought of River. She had surprised him last night when she said she loved him. He had been thinking the words all week, but had wanted to take things slowly with her. He didn’t want to rush things and scare her off. But then she had jumped in and beaten him to the punch line. He knew she’d chosen to say the words because she worried that he might not come back from this mission. He wished he could do more to reassure her, but no matter what he said, the fear in her eyes had remained. He couldn’t say he blamed her. He had been terrified on every mission himself for a long time. Now, jumping out of a plane was just another day on the job.
A welcome blast of cool air filled the airplane as Ian and Zach opened the door and started their usual routine of throwing colorful streamers out into the air to determine wind direction. Luke dutifully started running through his final gear check. Now that he had River waiting for him back home, he had a stronger motivation to remember to check his gear.
“We’ve got our spot,” Ian shouted. “Let’s go.”
Luke lined up, watching the crew members before him as they launched themselves out of the jump door and were sucked away from the plane. When his turn came, he stood in the door, took a deep breath, and arched his back as he left the aircraft. The white noise of the air rushing past him filled his ears as he stabilized and then pulled his parachute. As usual, it opened seamlessly and jerked Luke from freefall into a slow, floating descent. He steered his canopy in the direction his other crew members were heading, aiming for a large, open space in the trees. The available clearing was much larger this time than it usually was, and Luke relaxed. He should be able to easily avoid landing in the treetops.
As he descended toward the clearing, he prepared to pull down on his steering toggles simultaneously. This would flare out the sides of his parachute and slow him down to a smooth landing. But just as he passed the tree line, he suddenly found himself plummeting to the earth. He heard Charlotte scream, and then he felt a sharp searing pain as his leg hit the hard earth. His head struck the ground next, and then everything went black.
* * *
When Luke came to, he wished he could pass out again. He was lying flat on his back, staring up at a hazy, smoky sky. Every nerve ending in his left leg felt like it was shooting sharp needles up through his entire body, and his head was throbbing so hard he felt like his brain might literally explode out of his skull.
He tried to speak, but his voice came out raspy and weak. Charlotte, Hunter, and Ian were all hovering over him.
“Oh, thank god. You’re awake,” Hunter said.
Luke tried to speak again, and was able to barely squeak out the words, “What happened?”
“You hit turbulence just below the tree line, and your canopy collapsed,” Charlotte said. “You fell about twenty feet, I’d say. Landed on your left leg, which is definitely broken, but is actually in much better shape than I thought it would be from the way I saw you land on it. I thought it was going to be completely shattered, but it looks like you’ve only got one clean break on your fibula. That’s the smaller of the bones in your lower leg. You also hit your head and knocked yourself out. You’ve got a nasty gash on your forehead, but I think it’s mostly a surface injury.”
Luke closed his eyes for a moment, trying to block out the sights and sounds around him. He felt hyper alert, like every little noise was louder than a freight train.
“Hurts,” he said. He couldn’t say much more, but his crew members understood.
“I’m sorry, buddy,” Ian said. “Hang in there. We’ve got a rescue helicopter on the way. They’re going to airlift you out of here. We’re sending Trevor with you to help you. This fire is pretty small, so we can hopefully get it contained with just the four of us left here.”
Luke barely raised his palm in response. Anything else required too much effort right now. He tried to concentrate on something pleasant to take his mind off of the pain shooting through his body. He imagined River’s face in front of him, and her smile was the last thing he thought of before he mercifully blacked out again.
He had no conscious awareness of Trevor struggling to pull his limp body up against him, or of Ian using ropes to strap him to Trevor before Trevor stepped into the rescue harness that the helicopter dropped down into the clearing. He had no memory of his body being pulled back up from the earth and into the waiting helicopter, where a team of paramedics detached him from Trevor and immediately started to set his leg.
When he woke up in the hospital several hours later all Luke could remember was feeling weightless, like he was free-floating through the atmosphere. Confused about where he was, he blinked several times and looked around the hospital room. Trevor sat in a chair a few feet away from the bed, looking weary and worried.
“Hey, buddy,” Trevor said. “Welcome back. You gave me quite a scare there. The paramedics aren’t sure why, but your heart stopped beating in the rescue helicopter. They think your body might have been going into shock or something, although a broken leg and a small gash on your head doesn’t seem like enough to do that.”
“I don’t feel well,” Luke said.
Trevor chuckled. “Well, that’s not surprising. You took a pretty nasty fall.”
“No, I mean, besides the pain. I don’t feel well. Something’s off.”
“Just try to rest and relax,” Trevor said. “Boise is sending an SUV right now and I’m going to drive you back home.”
Luke closed his eyes and tried to follow Trevor’s advice. But he felt strange. The pain in his leg and on his head obviously wasn’t pleasant, but something deeper was wrong, and he couldn’t quite place his finger on it.
When the SUV arrived, the hospital staff wheeled Luke out and helped him settle in the backseat. Trevor hopped into the driver’s seat and adjusted the rearview mirror so he could see Luke’s face.
“Do you want anything to eat? We could hit up a drive thru,” Trevor said.
Luke shook his head no. “I don’t feel like eating right now,” he said. “I just want to get home. Has anyone contacted River?”
“No. I figured since you were mostly okay once they got you to the hospital, I’d let you call her when you woke up and were ready. Did you want to stop somewhere and call her before we get going?”
Luke shook his head no. “I’ll call her when we get back to base. How long is the drive?”
“Should be about six hours,” Trevor said.
“I’ll just call her once we get there. It’ll be easier to make a call once I’m back with my cell phone. And there’s no sense in her being worried the whole drive home.”
“Whatever you want, man. Let’s get going. Let me know if you change your mind and want to get something to eat, okay?”
“Okay,” Luke said. He laid his head back and tried to sleep. After a while he was successful. He drifted off into a dreamless sleep and found a brief respite from the pain and the uneasy feeling that had filled him. When he finally woke up, the light outside was starting to grow dim. Luke felt slightly nauseated and he took a few deep breaths to try to stave off the feeling.
“How far out are we?” Luke asked. They were somewhere on an open stretch of highway, and Luke couldn’t see any familiar landmarks to go by.
“I’d say about another hour to go,” Trevor called back. “How are you feeling?”
“Not good.”
“Hang in there. We’re getting really close,” Trevor said.
“Sorry to put you through all this,” Luke said.
“Dude, no worries. I’m sitting in an air conditioned vehicle drinking a Dr. Pepper while the rest of the crew is sweating in a smoky forest and doing hard manual labor. Don’t worry about me. Just take care of yourself.”
Luke nodded, and closed his eyes again, trying to keep his head from spinning. As the minutes went by, he felt sicker and sicker, and all of a sudden he felt a strangely familiar feeling welling up inside of him.
“Oh shit,” he said as the feeling grew stronger. “Trevor, pull over!” Trevor glanced in the rearview mirror and started slowing down.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Pull over, now!” Luke yelled in response.
“I’m trying, buddy, I’m trying,” Trevor said, decelerating even faster and pulling onto the right shoulder of the road.
Before the car had completely stopped moving, Luke opened the door and tumbled out. He let out a large roar, and suddenly a huge rush of energy came from within him. His clothes, and the cast on his leg all went flying in little shreds across the pavement, and his skin was replaced by thick, black fur as he morphed into bear form. His hands became paws with long claws on the end, and his ears turned round and furry.
Trevor looked out the window of the SUV in shock. “Oh, shit,” he said, throwing the vehicle into park and hopping out.
Luke’s bear swung its head back and forth in an agitated manner. He limped on his broken left leg, and clawed angrily at the ground with his front paws.
“Luke, calm down. You have to calm down,” Trevor said, trying to rub the fur on Luke’s back soothingly. But Luke continued to swing his head around and roar, growing more agitated by the moment.
Fire Bear Shifters: The Complete Series Page 24